Costa Rica Has Immigration Problems Too.

It was strange to hear people talking about immigration problems, but Costa Rica has them, and then some. Because Costa Rica is politically stable, and has a better economy than some of the other countries around them, they have a big problem with illegal immigration.

The main problem is with people from Nicaragua, and then people from Colombia. The word for a person from Nicaragua is a Nicargüense, but Ticos call them "Nicas", which kind of has a negative, diminuitive feeling to it. This negativity is real. People here sound exactly like many people in the United States talking about Mexicans.

They say that Nicas don´t obey their laws, that they are a drain on the economy, and that they cost the taxpayers a lot of money. They also say that many Nicas are involved in trafficking drugs, and are lawless and don´t respect the rule of law.

As far as the problem with Colombianos go, I have talked to some people that consider them even more dangerous than the Nicas, because of Colombia´s long-standing violent problems with narcotics.

Most people know about Colombia´s problems with Cocaine, but don´t know about Nicaragua´s problems. Back in the 70´s, there were all sorts of political problems there. Nicaragua is mostly stable now, they even had a woman president several years ago. But they are still desperately poor. We´re talking the same sort of poverty you can see out in the indigenous parts of Mexico.

What is different in how Ticos see the Nica problem is that even though they are annoyed by the problems Nicas cause in their country, they do have more of an understanding about why Nicas come to Costa Rica. They understand that desperately poor people, with no hope for the future in their own homeland don´t always see the value of the rule of law, when breaking the law to cross a border can mean money for their family to eat.

I´m not saying we should not make real changes in the policy at the U.S. border. We have people dying in the desert, and we have no real control over our sovereign border. What I am saying is that it´s foolish to expect people to have the same sort of respect for our laws that we do when they are desperate to do whatever is necessary to provide for their family. The immigration problem is not black and white in any country, maybe we need to seek a more human solution than just walling our country up like some exclusive club. I don´t know if the guest worker program is the answer, but it´s a real step in the right direction to compassionate and fair immigration policy.

Juanito

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